by T. L. Reeve
Jefferson spied Hayden and Nico sitting together in one of the large chairs, their son sat on the floor in front of them playing with a little girl and a set of blocks. Both Nico and Hayden carried on a hushed conversation while spying glances at the little girl. Hayden’s eyes sparkled when she turned her attention to her mate, but there was still something else there, he smelled—weird as it sounded, it. Bodhi and Emma sat across from Hayden and Nico. Their triplets played with Asher and the little girl along with Julius and Fern. They were a tight group of babies. A new generation of shifters.
“Would you like to put him in the nursery with the others?” Danielle asked.
“Uh, sure,” Jefferson said. “Will he be okay in there?”
She smiled. “Of course. It’s where all the younger packmates are. Besides, not too much stimulation for him yet.” She led him and Jochi down the hall. “So, did it work?”
It took Jefferson a second to understand what she meant. Heat filled his cheeks. “Yes, it worked.”
“Amazing,” she whispered, opening the door to the room. “Put him in this crib here.” She tapped the one beside her then grabbed the small walkie-talkie. “Here, now you’ll be able to hear him when he wakes.”
“Thank you,” Jochi whispered laying the little clouded leopard into the crib.
“No problem.” She led the way once more back to the living room. “Did you talk to Charisma or Penelope about the developments?”
“Charisma walked in on us,” Jochi said. “Not one of our best moments. I bet I looked like a salivating fool.”
Jefferson chuckled. “You did. It was, like the kids say, hot.”
Jochi playful slapped his arm. “Silly old man.”
“I know I promised myself I wouldn’t ask, but what’s wrong with Hayden and who is the little girl with them?” Jefferson inquired tapping his nose. “Everything is enhanced.”
Danielle frowned. "Her uncle told her something before she and Nico killed him, that's..." She blew out a breath while pushing her short bangs off her forehead. "Every month she doesn't become pregnant, well I am beginning to believe what he told her as well."
Danielle’s rambling made no sense. “What?” Jefferson read the reports and Hayden’s statements, but none of it made sense. What had Worthington done to her?
Jochi frowned. “She believes she is infertile.”
Danielle nodded. “She took a pregnancy test this morning. She’s six for six.”
Jefferson frowned. “I’m sorry I even asked.”
Danielle squeezed his shoulder. “It’s no one’s fault. I am going to monitor her heat this month and see if we can get a better understand of what’s going on with her. If we can find the answers, we can fix it. As for the little girl, she’s Emmeline. Hayden and Nico adopted her.”
“What are you three conspiring about over here?” Kalkin appeared beside them.
“I asked a stupid question,” Jefferson said.
"Hayden." Kalkin scrubbed his face. "She's been through the wringer and it's not getting any easier. She's started testifying Monday and it didn't go well. The fucking lawyer Holly bought is trying to accuse Nico and Hayden of having an appropriate relationship before she turned eighteen."
“Jesus,” Jefferson grumbled. “Poor kid.”
“Doesn’t help when the whole family drops bombshell after bombshell on her.” Kalkin shrugged. “And, it’s not like telling some members of this pack and pride, ‘no,’ or to ‘think things through,’ works either.”
“Has she ever thought about getting away?” Jochi asked.
"Oh sure, we took her and Nico with us on a mini-vacation a couple of weeks ago," Kalkin said. "She's a valuable part of the team and as such, she should be taking care of her mental health. The shit from the last year is wearing on all of us. So, while we were away, she and Nico came to a valuable understanding and, as you can see, their family has expanded by one."
Jefferson couldn’t imagine what they’d all been through and he didn’t know who’d bared the brunt of it more. Hayden, due to it being her aunt and uncle who’d kidnapped and tortured her. Or Mackenzie, because he’d been Holly’s mate or faux mate as he’d learned later on. “Well, I for one hope you can figure out what’s happening to her.”
“Us too.” Kalkin glanced out the sliding glass door as they entered the living room. “Can you give us a hand outside?”
“Sure.” Jefferson pressed a kiss to Jochi’s temple. “Don’t get into any mischief while I’m outside.”
“Never, bèndàn.”
Jefferson shook his head. “You’re not a very good liar.” He winked at Jochi.
“Have you given much thought about tonight,” Kalkin asked Jefferson as they stepped outside.
“Tonight?” Jefferson quirked a brow.
“Well, it is the first night of the full moon. Your wolf might want to stretch his legs.”
Jefferson frowned. Of course, he thought about it, but hadn’t considered it, since he’d been more consumed with the fact, he still had work to do before Emersyn took over for him in the Senate. “I hadn’t... What I mean is, I have, but I didn’t ‘think,’ about it. I don't have the urge to erm, shift. Is that the right term?" Damn, he felt incompetent. For all the years he spent protecting shifters, becoming one, had him feeling less than equipped for whatever might happen next.
Kalkin laughed. “You sound like someone who got their hand stuck in the cookie jar. It’ll either happen, or it won’t.”
“Well the knot works,” Jefferson grumbled. “Charisma walking in at the most inconvenient of times.”
Kalkin turned his head slowly. Any other time Jefferson would have found the gesture comical. “It did?”
“You’re not going to lecture me about locking my front door, especially with the shit going on right now?”
The Alpha waved him off. “Did it fix the ‘issue,’ you were having?”
He nodded. “Yes. I feel a thousand times better and not so out of control for once.”
“It’ll get better,” Kalkin replied. “Your body has to adjust to it. Tonight, see where the wolf takes you and let him control it. If nothing happens, it’s okay too.”
“When did you become the calm voice?” Jefferson teased.
Kalkin flipped him off. “Who said I was calm?”
He snorted.
“Look, you’re new to this. I can’t be a dick when you don’t know what to expect. Later, when you’re comfortable in your new skin, I’ll dick you around. Until then, don’t take advantage of my good nature,” Kalkin growled.
Jefferson put his hands up in acquiescence. “Understood. So, what are we doing out here?”
“We’re frying the turkeys this year. So, we need to get the fryers up and running.” Kalkin made his way over to where his eldest brother stood attaching a small propane tank to one of the cookers. Royce stood over another pouring oil into it. “If you could help Royce fill the others, that would be great.”
Jefferson grabbed a jug off the table then went to the fryer next to Royce. “What a morning, huh?”
Royce chuckled. “You can say that. Not every day you see your father-in-law in such a compromising situation.”
Jefferson huffed out a laugh. “Not something a parent ever wishes a child to see either.”
“Eh, it happens. We’re kind of used to it in this family.” Royce shrugged.
“What are you two clucking about?” Nico joined them, filling the container next to Jefferson.
“Getting caught in the act,” Royce stated, placing a thermometer into the cooker.
"Who got caught this time?" Nico said as he rolled his eyes.
“Jochi and I did,” Jefferson answered.
Nico stopped pouring the oil and turned his head. “No shit? Who?”
“Charisma,” Royce added. “And myself.”
Nico whistled. “Knock on wood, Hayden and I haven’t been interrupted yet.”
“Karma,” Royce muttered. “Your day will come.”
Nico shrugged. “At least we don’t put locks on our doors.”
“You’ve lost me,” Jefferson said. “What’s with all the banter about locks on doors.”
"When Hayden was younger, she had a bad habit of just walking in on people," Royce said. "Add in the situation with Mac and Holly and well... You can see why there were needs to take precautions."
Jefferson tilted his head to the side. “Hate to sound like an ass, but did anyone stop to consider how you made Hayden feel?” He’d never once considered putting a bedroom lock on his door when the girls were younger. Shit happened, but protecting his girls took priority, even if he was having sex with their mother.
Royce put his hand on Jefferson’s shoulder. “Because she likes chicks and never told Hayden, she and my dad concocted a story to keep her here so she wouldn’t leave Hayden.”
“Why would she have left Hayden?” It didn’t make sense to Jefferson. If, in the beginning, none of them wanted to take Holly from her family, why did she or Mackenzie feel the need to lie? Wouldn’t it have been better to just, put it out there and find some place for Holly to live? What was he missing?
“I think it was all part of the scam,” Royce said. “My dad will tell you he came up with the idea, but I often wonder.”
"I did, boy. It was my idea. Holly didn't ask for anything. I thought, in the beginning, I was safeguarding both of them. In the end, I was a selfish old fool who fucked up so many lives," Mackenzie mumbled. "Hayden, you, Liam, and Riley, being the biggest targets of all."
Royce shook his head. “Nope. Not going to allow you to pull the ‘blame me,’ card. Holly could have turned down your offer. She could have found an apartment and stayed on her own accord. I think she planned for all this, even though I can’t prove it.”
“He’s right, you know,” Nico said. “Hayden grew up with Holly until she moved here. I think Holly planned it from the moment she took Hayden and Jase took Bodhi. Holly is a twisted fucker like the rest of the Geithner clan.”
Jefferson winced. Adrian was nothing like Holly. If anything, he was a mini-Kalkin. Ruthless. Efficient, if not still a bit wet behind the ears. He was cold and calculating and unlike the others, didn’t want his brother or sister to find out about him. He didn’t want to taint the Raferty family. He wanted to protect them from his parents and PBH.
"It's fucked up," Jefferson agreed. "Kids need boundaries. It had to be hard for Hayden who'd had her wolf nature repressed for so long. She couldn't be free until she came here and, some part of her must still worry why she’s here. What the point was of coming here. If you ask me, Hayden is the most damaged of this family and perhaps, instead of worrying about her walking into private moments, you should have been concerned about a fragile wolf, who didn't even know she was one until she arrived in Window Rock."
Mackenzie and Royce frowned while Nico smirked, nodding at everything Jefferson had said.
“When you put it that way,” Royce murmured. “You’re right. We were selfish. I think we all saw a hyper girl who was trying to find her place in the family, and we all slammed the door in her face.”
“We’re working on it,” Nico said. “Hayden is talking to Brie and Jasmine a few times a month. This last year has been a shock to all of our systems, especially after what Worthington told her.”
Jefferson had read it in the statements given after the initial investigation. They were going to be part of the censure and expulsion hearing as well. “It doesn’t make it any easier on her to relive some of the vilest times in her life. Nor does it help realizing Holly had been in control of all of those situations as well.”
“When did you become Hayden’s biggest cheerleader?” Nico stated.
“The minute I read what she endured at five and then at fourteen and again at twenty-three. Seeing the photographs of her tiny body chained. Knowing Worthington kept them in a safe at his home for all these years. Seeing samples from the journal entries that bastard kept. Seeing Holly had supported every inch of the research their forsaken family made that poor child endure... Gentlemen, it made me sick. I have two daughters of my own and a son now if anyone would have tried to do what PBH has done to Hayden, I'd raze the ground they walked on."
“Fuck yeah,” Nico growled. “Wait, you have a son?”
“What are the three of you conspiring about?” Kalkin’s arms were folded across his massive chest, making one hell of an imposing visage.
“Nothing,” Mackenzie grunted. “We’re having a guy discussion.”
“Those always lead to trouble in this family. Who’s pregnant now?” Kalkin joined them.
“Well, that cuts me out of this conversation,” Jefferson said with a hint of humor.
“No one is pregnant, asshole,” Mackenzie snarled.
“Bullshit,” Kalkin quipped. “Keeley is.”
Mackenzie blinked. “Were you feeling left out again?”
“No asshole, I wasn’t.” Kalkin stared at his brother. “Keeley and I discussed having another child last year. All of ours are growing up. We wanted a baby.”
“Why aren’t you being smug about it?” His eldest brother’s tone held a hint of disbelief.
“Would you be smug at a time like this? One... Scratch that. Several of our packmates are dealing with serious shit right now. Add in Hayden, because I know you jackasses were talking about her, we don’t want to rub it in her face. She already smells off and I—”
"She's happy, but not her normal self," Nico said. "Sure, she cares for me and Asher and now Emmeline. Sure, we went on vacation. Sure, she spends time talking to Jasmine and Brie and they're helping, but this shit has gotten to her. I miss my bubbly mate. I miss her laugh. If we don't figure out what's wrong with her soon, I fear what might happen."
Kalkin clamped a massive hand on Nico’s shoulder. “We won’t let that happen.”
“To be honest, I fucking hate the full moon right now,” Nico whispered. “It’s destroying my mate and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
“Well, this holiday went from festive to fucked up in less than two seconds,” Mackenzie grunted.
“Speaking of which, did you claim your mate?” Kalkin said in a droll tone.
Royce’s gaze snapped to his father. “What?”
“Yeah, the mother of the sweet little girl who spends the night at Mac’s place. Aurora, our dispatcher. She’s Mackenzie’s mate. He’s also been tramping around Aurora’s apartment, too. From what I read in Logan’s reports.”
“Shut up,” Mackenzie whispered. “It’s not what you think.”
“Oh?” Kalkin cocked a brow. “Really?”
“Uh, why aren’t the fryers going?” Danielle called out from the sliding glass door. “We’re ready to get going in here.”
Kalkin waved at her. “Saved by the bell.” He headed back to the house with Royce in tow.
“Nico,” Danielle called out. “I need you for a second too.”
Nico frowned. “On my way.”
“Looks like they left all the hard work to the old farts, huh?” Jefferson teased.
Mackenzie nodded. “Seems so.”
"So, about Aurora..." Jefferson hedged. He'd seen her when he and Jochi walked into the house. She'd been in the kitchen with the women while Abby had been outside with the older kids.
Mackenzie sighed. “There are things she hasn’t told anyone, and I promised not to tell them for her.”
“But you’re her mate.” Jefferson lit the burner for each of the fryers. “Why aren’t you happy?”
“Who says I’m not?”
Jefferson snorted. “You look like you want to bolt from this place and never come back.”
Mackenzie scratched his cheek. “Full moon.”
“Ah.” Jefferson nodded. “Knot her. Made me feel better.”
Mackenzie choked. “Son of a bitch, you do fit in here.”
Jefferson laughed. “Seriously though, I’m happy for you, Mac. We’re family. Father-in-laws. It’s time you take your life by
the horns and finally find your peace.”
“Yeah,” Mackenzie said. “Maybe.”
Once the turkeys were in their designated cookers, Jefferson went in search of Jochi. After the conversation he had with the different members of the Raferty family, it made him think about everything from his place in the family to how daunting a shifter’s life could be. Firsthand accounts were one thing, seeing it in his family, made it more tangible. Nico’s raw emotion rocked Jefferson to his core. There had to be something more they—he could do, but what? Once he retired, he wouldn’t have the backing of the government any longer.
“You’re thinking too hard, bèndàn,” Jochi said, slipping himself into Jefferson’s slide.
“I am,” he agreed. “Being here has opened my eyes tremendously.”
“Oh?” His mate stared up at him with wide, curious green eyes.
“Yes. We should be doing more to help.”
Jochi grinned. “We have been the whole time you have been in Congress.”
Jefferson chuckled. “You’re right. I have been. I want to do more.”
“Volunteer,” Jochi said. “We’re home now. Work at the orphanage. Teach at the school. Do whatever you can to make a difference.”
“What are you going to be doing?” Jefferson buried his nose in the crown of Jochi’s head.
“Taking care of our family of course, and any jobs Jerome might have use of my many talents,” his mate answered.
“You are, are you?” Jefferson growled. “Will you be dressing as a woman for those occasions?”
Jochi gave Jefferson a coy grin. “Maybe.”
All of the blood in Jefferson’s body rushed to his groin. “You’re going to be the death of me one of these days. Do you have any clue what you do to me?”
Jochi shivered and grinned. “The same as you do to me.”
“What?” Nico shouted, gathering Hayden into his arms while also drawing the attention of everyone in the living room. “Are you sure, Danielle? Don’t fuck with us.”
